KETTLEDRUM. By Beatrix de Candolle (Cobden- Sanderson, 7s. 6d.)—" It
was in this rather dramatic manner that Jeremy Michaels, with his singular form and disturbing personality entered the hard-working triangle of young people at Crags and squared it." Those who delight in finding in a work of fiction some phrase epitomizing the author's manner have here, in a nutshell, the " singular form " affected by Mrs. de Candolle. The Castle of Crags is transmogrified by the last of its Barons into England's Riviera House. There— and later in modern Piccadilly flats—the Bright Young People, conversing brilliantly the while, tie themselves into lovers' knots which they are able to unravel only by the perception and devotion of an incredibly sagacious doctor, Sir Roderick Partridge, and the maidenly Elder Sister who consents t ) be his wife. Alix Chamberlain, the lady of the manor, is a strange unsocial creature, wilful, fascinating, able and intelligent withal, yet constantly treacherous to herself and to all who cross her path. Not until the last page, and then " for the first time in her life," does Alix behave " like a perfectly natural woman "—this after having been ignominiously snatched up and carried off " head downward, legs and arms held in an iron grip, dangled " at an original fancy dress party., There is a great deal to be said for the cave-man treat- ment of many a " modern girl." Mrs. de Candolle's book, a first novel, is a subtle study of the clash of the generations, and her dialogue alone should give her a high place in the hierarchy of fiction-writers.
Previous page
